Before I begin, I want to clarify something: forget everything you know about the original series. This is a total reboot, not just a remake. Thus, my review will be less on comparison and more focused on what the new version is offering this time.
Episode 1: as I’ve said, this is a reboot, but with the same cast. And the first episode is a total blast! (It rhymes, eh?) One thing I immediately noticed is the tone itself. While the original Digimon Adventure is an isekai adventure kids show, this reboot is an action adventure with a slight shounen aspect. Both, however, still retain the same seriousness they had.
The fight scenes are excellent! I have watched all the Digimon Adventure Tri films, and I can say that this reboot is going for the same treatment when it comes to fight scenes. The battles are more serious, and they have more choreography than the original.
The plot is now unpredictable. Most remakes tend to rehash the same events and give it a slight twist, but not in this case. Episode 1 began without all of the Digidestined in one place, and only Taichi and Koushiro were introduced here. There were brief glimpses of the others, but they were not fully shown. Also, the Digital World was way different. Unlike the original series where it was an actual world, here it was more of a physical manifestation of the internet. If you’ve played the game Megaman.exe Battle Network, the Digital World looks exactly like The Net in that game.
Now what I like about this episode is the nostalgia factor. Since this is a remake, we already have an idea of the major plot elements from the original series. And they incorporated that in here through numerous teases sprinkled throughout the scenes. One highlight that particularly stood out for me was when Taichi was running to try and save his mother and Kairi interspersed with an image of the Crest of Courage responding to his emotions.
There is no evolution scene, sadly. When Koromon evolved to Agumon, it only looked like a generic morphing scene without the epicness from the original version. Moreover, there Brave Heart not even included, which kinda disappointed me.
Now some may say that this episode was rushed, and I will have to agree with that. After all, Greymon was already shown here, unlike in the original series where it took almost 3 to 4 episodes before his first appearance. But for me, what the remake did was not bad either. We’ve already seen that in the original, so there’s no point for the remake to follow the same formula.
Overall, this is a damn good episode for a remake and deserves a 9/10.
Episode 2: Now this one is much, much better and more epic. YAMATO AND GARURUMON FINALLY APPEARED!
The plot at this point is a partial rehash of Digimon Adventure’s first feature film, “Our War Game”. Of course, there are major differences considering the nature of this remake. For one, this is the first time that Taichi and Yamato have met.
The character of Yamato is slightly tweaked in here. He is more colder and reserved compared to his original counterpart. Not to mention, there are some subtle hints that he was the first Digisdestined who were chosen and had been going to the Digital World for a long time.
Much like the previous episode, they have some teases here as well, and maybe some hints of future story developments. Takeru and Kairi were finally revealed, and though brief, it was an epic reveal because of how it connected to the reveal of Omegamon/Omnimon.
Yes, Taichi and Yamato already managed to fuse their Champion-level Digimon together.
And that is my only gripe for this episode. The two didn’t have a strong bond yet, which kinda made the fusion seem weak. Nevertheless, this rapid story development might just be another twist to the plot, and we might see the impact of Omegamon’s early appearance as the series progresses.
Overall, this is a 9/10 for me.